Welcome to the GWTW Forum.Guests (non-registered users) can view the forum but are unable to post. If you don't have anything to say then why would you bother to register?One of the most popular sections of the GWTW Forum has long been the Swap Meet. A great place to sell old, seldom flown kites or to get great deals on used (gently flown) kites. Only registered users can see the Swap Meet section, let alone wheel and deal. 1000's (literally) of kites have changed hands thanks to the Swap Meet.There are several more benefits to being a registered user, but you'll have to join our little community to find out all the "secrets".Questions or concerns? Contact Steve ... just drop an email to: forum.gwtwkites@gmail.com

10 g does seem like a bit much for an Urban Ninja, considering the kite alone weighs around 50 g. I think you could do with less weight and some careful tuning. Generally, a little weight is good on zero wind kites, especially on the nose. This keeps the nose down and helps the kite glide better, especially outdoors where there might be slight air movement. (not really a breeze ) If you can keep the nose down, you can get the kite upwind from you without stalling. The Long Way Home comes with a removable nose cap/weight, weighs a couple if grams I think, and it helps with gliding if there's a tiny breeze. The problem I've been having with larger zero wind kites is that they don't like to turn if they're locked into a glide. They turn better at or very near stall. Of course, my experiences are with the more delta-shaped kites, like your Hybrid 240.

... I have the 10g on the nose of the Ninja and mostly fly outdoors in low windso maybe fits with your points - it feels and acts a bit too leaf like to me without the weight

Ted here in Chico has his Ninja tuned pretty nice, it glides very well and the only wieght he has added as far as I know is a small ball bearing swivel at the line attachment. His is the optional wider version of the plans. With some tuning you can get much of that "Leafing" out, the rest is line control. And Ted has a pretty good touch with them, like on the Wala/Aerobe keeping just a bit of tension on the line by letting it slip through your fingers as you're gliding away will keep the nose down, gliding toward you or into the wind is a bit trickier. Ted is Gliderdude here on the forum if you want to PM him.

Logged

"Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see" John W Lennon

"People do not quit playing because they grow old, they grow old because they quit playing" George Bernard Shaw

I use no weight on the Horvath 240 but I am no expert on gliding. It's so rare when there is no wind on the beach. Problem is I should fly inland but the H240 is used for those rare mornings when the wind is zero in the summer at the beach. At the price they sell these Horvath's I always assumed they were perfectly tuned?

at most i have a quarter on a kite...most of mine do not have any weights...they are tuned better and so do not need the weight (but that is my feeling on sport kites too they should be designed so that they do not need the weights)....

My Windfire Designs Morpho Grande supposedly works well as a glider with a tennis ball cut and slipped onto its nose....but it is a 14' wide delta......

The first Plutz kites from CEEWAN had a lead sinker on them.....but they were PHENOMENAL climbing kites.....then the second version was designed to be a great glider.....but it could barely climb...the 3rd version of the Plutz (on their way now) has the climb designed back in and still retained the glide...I am not in possession of one yet to verify that though....so...there is design and tuning that can be done to not need any weights....

This is also why i feel that the bridle on the wala walaXL and the Laima suck...it is tooo short...there is not enough working area to tweak the bridle to get it to fly really well..

The original poster used the term "Leaf like" refering to how how the kite tends to act like a falling leaf, rocking back & forth as it falls straight down. I was just going with his terminolgy since it was a good description IMO - I didn't say "leafing out" but that you can tune most of the "Leafing" out but now I have to come up with a good way to use "Leafing out", I like it

I've never played with the tune on an Urban Ninja myself, John (King-J) helped me get my Aerobe/Wala flying to my liking (better glide) by relaxing the bow in the spine. A kite I didn't like much became a kite I spent a couple hours with just working it all the way out to the end of the supplied line then bringing it back and working it all the way out again, it was a blast.

« Last Edit: July 19, 2011, 10:33 PM by mikenchico »

Logged

"Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see" John W Lennon

"People do not quit playing because they grow old, they grow old because they quit playing" George Bernard Shaw

I am not sure how much weight it actually is, but my Focus Manta has a HUGE weight, maybe close to a pound?? on the nose. We flew with the weight off and it was not nearly as good as with the weight installed. As mentioned above, the glide dramatically suffered with the weight off the nose. Flight was not effected at all with the weight on or off. It felt exactly the same, just the glide was the issue.

Our forum is made possible by the good folks whose ads appear above and by the members of our community (PayPal donation button at top)In case you missed it each ad is linked to the sponsors web site. So please, take a moment and visit our sponsors sites as this forum wouldn't be possible with out them.Interested in running an ad for your business or kiting event? Contact Steve at advertise.gwtwkites@gmail.com for a quote.